The Scottish way to sell

Historically, there has always been wider satisfaction in the buying and selling process in Scotland than in England and Wales. It can be no coincidence then that most people selling in south east Scotland use a solicitor estate agent to sell their home. Solicitor estate agents are set apart from other estate agents who can’t carry out the legal elements of a property sale or purchase.  

ESPC Charter raises the bar even higher in customer excellence  

In recent independent market research carried out by ESPC, 89% of sellers rated a firm being signed up to a Charter or quality standard as important or very important when selecting which selling agent to work with. The recently launched ESPC Charter seeks to raise standards even higher in the industry, with opportunities available exclusively to registered ESPC solicitor estate agent member firms.  

Bespoke training programme unveiled  

Working in conjunction with the Law Society of Scotland, ESPC will launch a bespoke training programme in the new year. This will be exclusively available to ESPC chartered firms and ensures the highest level of training and development within the property industry ahead of national regulation being introduced.  

The training programme will focus on a variety of topics which will ensure that the ESPC charter champions have a greater knowledge of all aspects of the property transaction including conveyancing, building construction and an overview of property law. This will provide ESPC chartered firms with unrivalled knowledge and insight for the benefit of their clients.  

Paul Hilton, CEO at ESPC, commented “Anyone can set themselves up as an estate agent.  At ESPC, we felt it was important to create something that allowed our ESPC solicitor estate agents to set themselves apart from the competition.  

“Currently ESPC solicitor estate agents are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, and firms also must adhere to ESPC’s own membership guidelines. The ESPC Charter now provides a third set of standards for firms which has been introduced in a voluntary manner.  

“Based on independent market research from buyers and sellers, the ESPC Charter combines best practice in estate agency and conveyancing with fee transparency and clearly defined service levels.   

“In 2023, as part of the ESPC Charter we will be launching a Law Society of Scotland-approved training scheme for ESPC solicitor estate agents. The training will cover a wide range of topics including estate agency, conveyancing, building construction and property law and will bring a new professionalism to the industry.  

“In addition to the training we will continue to develop the charter based on consumer feedback and industry developments - this really is just the start.”